Drying machine



- l 1,521,660 J. WADE ET Al..

DRYING MACHINE 3 ShetS-Sheet 1 'Il-Illllllll Jan. 6, 1925. 1,521,660

J. WADE ETy Al.`

DRHNG MACHINE v Filed July 2e, 1921 s sheetsfsneet 2 Jan, 6, 1925.

J. WADE ET AL DRYING MACHINE Filed Jgly 26, 1921 s sneaks-sheet :s

Patented Jan. 6, 1925.

UNITED STATES 'JOHN WADE AND WILLIAM Wan-n, lor Clarence, ILLINOIS.

DRYING MACHINE.

Application filed July 26,

had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of our specification.

Our invention relates to a machine fordrying, stretching and ironing fabrics or washable material in sheet form, such as window shades, lace curtains, carpets, woolen and cotton goods in sheet or bolt form; the

' invention having for its object the provision of a construction whereby the material or goods may be firmly held in contact with the heated walls while the machine is in operation and during the operation of dry'- ing the material will be held against shrinkon the line age and may be subjected to a stretchingoperation while the same is being dried.

One purpose of our invention is to provide a sheet material-holding device adapted to be rapidly rotated so as to subject the material to a moving current of air, while the 'device may gradually become distended so as to subject the materialto a uniform and proper stretching action whereby the material maybe brought back to its original width or condition.

The objects and advantages of our invention will be more readily comprehended from the detailed description of the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main portion of our mach-ine.

Figure 2 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken of Figure 2 looking in the direction 'of the arrows.

Figure 4L is a detail elevation of a portion of one of the holding elements.

Figure 5 -is a plan view thereof.

ligure 6 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 6--6 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view take'i on the line 7+7 of Figure 1 looking in the ,direction of the arrows.

Figure 8 is a detail view in perspective illustrating modified forms of holdingelements.

1921. Serial N0. 487,594.

Figure 9-is a detail'sectional view of the fastening member or clamp for securin-g'one of the holding elements -slidably inA place.y

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken on the line 10-10 of Figure looking inthe direc-- tion of the arrows. I l

In the particular exemplification of the mvention, lit is disclosed .in the nature of a pairfof open ended metallic cylinders 15 and 16 arranged in telescoping relation to provide an adjustable drum or smooth surfaced means wherein the outer cylinder or shell 16 is permitted to completely envelope or telescope with the cylinder or shell 115. The outer ends of both cylinders 15 and 16 are closed by end walls 17 and 18, respectively, ywhich are provided with suitable hubs 19 and 20 to receive a supporting 'drive shaft 21 which is shown.extendingtherethrough. Y

The ends of the drivek shaft 21 are suitably p mounted in .bearingsv22, 22 arranged on the supports orpedestals 23, 23, one of which is shown'provided with an electric motorat 24, the armature shaft I vhereof is provided with a pulley to receive the flexible drive memberor belt 25 which 4is disposed about a large pulley 26 mounted on a shaft having a suit-y abley bearing in the pedestal or support23vas pulley 28 having a belt-29 which is disposed about a pulley 30 secured to the end of the shaft 21 so that oper-ation of the motor will drive the shaft 21 and cause the composite means or drum,l composed of cylinders or shells 15 and 16, to rotate therewith.y The driving mechanism illustrated discloses a substantially noiseless driving connection between motor and shaft, but it will be.

understood that any suitable driving mechanism between mot-'or and the mai-n shaft may be employed.

The drive shaft 21throughout a portion of its length is threaded as -a-t 21a to rece've adjusting means 31, shown i-n the nature ofY Tlie inner endof the sleevev tends into a key or slot-way formed in the hub 2O and induces the cylinder or shell to rotate with the shaft and at the same time permits long'tudinal movement of the cylinder or shell 16; while the cylinder or shell 15 is made to rotate with the shaft 21 by-v means of the bolt or pin 34C which passes through the hub 19 and the shaft 21, and therefore also maintains the cylinder or shell 15 against longitudinal movement.

The hub 2O is provided with locking means in the nature of a plunger 35a mounted in a suitable casing or shell 36 which is screwed into an opening in the hub, while the lower end of the plunger is adapt-ed to pass into suitable sockets as at 37 formed in the enlargement or head 32 of the adj ust'ng means or sleeve 31. r1`he pin or plunger 352L is provided with a thumb-piece orknob 38 andr is' normally pressed downwardly by means of a suitable coil spring 39 mounted in the shell or casing 36. The top or upper closed end of the shell or casing 36 is pro- V vided with a pair of notches to receive the lugs 40 secured on the bottom of the thumbpiece or knob 38 and thus perm't the pin 35 to extend to its maximum inward position illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. lVith this construction yit is apparent that when the pin or plunger is drawn upwardly so as to remove the lugs 40 out of the slots,-the lower end of the pin or plunger 35a will have been drawn Aout of the recess or socket 37 .in the enlargement or head 32 of the adjusting means or collar 31 and thus permit rotation ofthe adjusting means or collar 31 without impartingrotation to the cylinder or shellV A16. lVith this construction, the relation between the cylinders or'shells 15 and 16 may be controlled; that Vis to say, when the plunger or pin 35 is withdrawn from the socket or recess 37, the voperator may grasp the hand-wheel of means 31 and rotate "t so as to cause the same to travel lengthwise of the screw portion of shaft 21 and likewise induce the shell or cylinder 16 to move longitudinally of the shaft; such movement being permissible by reason of the slot and key connection between-the hub 2O and the shaft 2]. The adjustment just referred to is ypreferably made when the shaft 21 is idle or not in operation and, as is apparent, the composte driving member or drum, composed of cylinders 15 and 16, may be contracted or distended as desired so as to adapt the machine to material of different widths and a the same time subject the material? f after the same has been placed on the com- Yno posite member or drum, to a stretching operation. Y j

n The inner end of the cylinder or shell 15 is preferably provided with an end wall or spider 4.1 suitably mounted on the shaft 21 and secured in place in any proper manner so as ro properly reinforce the inner end of `the cylinder 0r shell 15 and therefore reenforce the intermediate part ofl the composite drying means 0r drum. The inner end l1 is shown provided with a plurality of openings as at a2, see Figure 7; while the outer end walls 17 and 18 of the shells 15 and 1.6 are each preferably provided with a number of openings 413, to permit air circulation entirely through the composite drum. ln order that the air circulation may be controlled and the heating of the drum thus partially controlled, the openings 43 in the outer end walls 1T and 18 are preferably provided with rotatable shutters la mounted against apertured discs 45, so that the shutters at may be rotated to close the openings in the dscs or to partially open the same in 'accordance withthe wishes of the operator.

In the particularrexempliiication of the invention, the outer end'wall 17 and the inner wall or spider l1 provide suitable support for the longitudinally disposed electric heaters 46, of which any suitable number may be employed; for example four in number, as shown in Figure The heaters are of a well known construction and suitably secured in place and properly insulated fromr the metallic walls of the machine, with the wires or lead lines extending to a suitable switch indicated at a7 which ycontrols the current passing through the lead lines from the commutator indcated at 48 and disposed about one end of the shaft 21 as shown in Figure 1; the Vcommutator with its lead lines, obtaining current from a suitable source of electrical energy, being supported and enclosed in a suitable housing 49 secured to the pedestal 23. The switch 47 may be 'of a three-way type, so that in the construction illustrated the current to all of the heaters .may be shut ottp or the current to two of the heaters supplied or current transmitted to the four heaters.

ln order that the material to be operated on may be readily and properly secured to the drying member Yor drum, I provide a flat metallic band or strap 50 for each shell 15 and 16, adapted to extend substantially about the entire circumference of said shells, with the ends thereof held in position and drawn together by suitable lclamping mochanism as for example of the nature more clearly shown in Figures land 9 and' consisting` of an elongated loop member 5l., one end whereof is suitably mounted in a slot formed in theside walls of a shell or lionsing 52 which contains a suitable spring a?, adapted to bear against the end of the loop member 51 and the inner closed end of thr-l shell 52, thereby maintaining the loop member 5l. under constant pressure. The out-er end of loop member 51 has a fulcrum member o loop-sliajved lever 54. pivotally connected thereto at the point 55 so as to have the lever or rulcrum mem-ber '541disposed to opposite sides-Lof the pivot point 55. vThe spring :contained housing 52 is secu-red Yto one end Vof leach band yor strap 50 while 'the adjacent end or each band 4-or strap is provided with a rack or 'toothedf'portion 56 disposed lengthwise of the band and formed to receive thev inner or short end of thefulcrum member or lever 54. f VVith'this con# struction it' is apparent that the' band or strap may be 'drawn together' and adjusted to clamp m-aterial ot 'varying'thicknesses firmly onto the drying member or drum so as to hold the same in place.

As previously stated, our improved ma- I Chine is more especially intended for drying and at the same time smoothing out or iron-Y ing sheet lor yard goods, window shades and the like, whichis induced by heating the metallic shells, (without however, between the shells and the heating element) and bythe rotation of the drum or drying `member'wh'e'reby the material is sub-l jected to moving air currents. The Inaterial to be operated onfis placed onto the composite drum or member so as to extend from side to side of the telescopically arranged members and then wound thereabout,

' after which the bands or straps are put into place with the clamps adjusted so as to iirmly and smoothly hold the material in place and maintain the same taut. Where the material is of such nature that it is likely to shrink during the washing and cleaning operation, after it has been lplaced about the drum as described, the operator may then distend the compo-site drum by releasing the spring-controlled plunger 35 so as to operatively disconnect hub20` from adjusting member or hand-wheel 31, at which time the operator may then rotate the hand-wheel or adjusting member yin a direction which will cause it 'to draw the shell or cylinder 16 outwardly and away 'from the opposite end of theshell or cylinder 15 and thus subject the material wound thereabout to a stretching operation; 'the material being held in its stretched condition while the drum is made to revolve and heated by the heating medium or heaters described. It is apparent that with the material thus firmly held in smooth relation about the composite drum, that it will dry in smooth condition and thus obviate the necessity of any additional ironing. The material may be subjected toany desired degree of stretching so as to provide its original width, or greater width if desired. l

Our improved machine is especially adapted for use in drying window shades, which will be so held as to retain' their original width and at the same time will be easily piace on the composite drum.

direct contact,

' In Figures 8 to -510 we show a modiiication of our invention in so far as 'the holding mechanism is concerned, which mechanism is especially adapted for use with lace ne't, lace curtains and'thelike; the drying member or composite drum being'identical `to thatl previously shown and described, conjsi'stingoi theshells 415 and 16, withV the shell 16 slidably keyed on the operating shaft '-21 and the 'end walls oi the shells provided with the `air controlling Shutters 44, all as previously described.` The difterence in o Y which permits the'mate'rial to be wound.

smoothly about the composite drying member/orV drum. In order that the intermediate portion and especially the ends of such materialmay be properly secured, we prefer vto provide one or more vflat strips 59 also provided with'a `plurality of pins 58 like the bands 57 so that the end 'or thein'ateria'l may likewise be passedover the various pins,v

thereby Ydistributing the pulling strain on the material. In order that 'the composite drying vdrum ormember may be adjusted or extended in the manner previously described, when employing the transversely disposedstrips or holder 59, we show the latter' held 'in place on the'opposi-te `ends of the drum'by suitable clamps which, *in the exempliication, comprise a block 60, which at its upper end has inwardly be'nt portions 61 to krprovide 'a slot-wayin which the strip 59 may slide. rlhe ends of the shells or cylinders are preferably formed so as `'to provide a flange disposed beyond the heads 17 and 18, as clearly shown in Figures -1, 8 and 9,v and the upper Vend portion 61 ofthe block is 'made Itoextend 'toward one side so as to overlap the flange portion of vthe'cylinders or shells as well as the encircling bands 57.

The block 60is Vshown provided with a j loosely mounted member or block 62 which' isA adapted to engagebeneathl the extended end or flange portion ofthe shell or cylinder, as shown in Figure 9. The block or member 60, at a 'point beneath the .member 62, is provided wit'ha cam or eccentric' member 63 pivotally 'secured thereto at 64, to enable the cam member Ato come vinto pressing en-` gagement with the member or block 62 when the cam member 63 is oscillated about the' pivotal point '64 through operation of a suit- 'i able hand-crank or 'member 65. With the construction shown, it is apparent that the block 60 may be passed over the extended edge or flange portion of the cylinders or drums 15 and 16 at any desired point and the wedge member 62 brought into gripping. relation with the bottom or inside of the flange through proper operation of the eccentric member 63 thereby firmly clampingthe mechanism in place while at the same time permitting the pinstrip or holding member 59 to have movement relative to the clamp member; or in other words to permit the cylinder 16 with its clamping mechanism to move inv a direction lengthwise of the pin strip 59.

ris-is apparent from the construction shown, the-material wound about the composite drum will be quickly dried in smooth condition during the rotation and heating of the drum; the heating' being accomplished by using all or a portion of the electric heaters. while thek degree of heat may be controlled through the amount of ventilation permitted to pass Ythrough the end walls as well as by the number of heaters in operation. As the heating elements are not in actual contaetpwith the material-receiving walls of the metallic shells or cylinders, scorching of the material is not likely to occur. After the material has been properly wound about the composite drum and clamped into place and the material has shrunken during its cleaning operation, then the operator may distend the composite Y drum or telescopically arranged members to any desired degree adapted to subject the material to the-proper or desired amount of stretching. v

In order that the plunger' of the adjusting member may readily lock the member to the hub 20,` we show the head 32 of the adjusting memberl provided withy a number of soclretsor recesses 37 to receive the plunger or pin 35a and thus provide a locking relation without necessitating a complete rotation of the respective members. The

' drying member, which, in the exemplification, comprises cylinders or shells are of thin sheet metal provided with smooth outer surfaces, which at the same time will readily radiate the heat and the drying member or drum has preferably been shown and described in the form of a pair of telescopically arranged cylinders, but it is apparent that the drying member may be of different form permittingtelescopic arrangement or distention of the respective parts; the invention having been shown in what we believe to be its preferred embodiment and described in terms employed merely as terms of description and not of limitation, as structural',modifications are possible and may be made without, however, departing from the spirit of our inyention.

. Vhat we claim is 1. A machine of the character described, comprising' a rotatable shaft provided with a screw-threaded portion, a plurality of telescopically arranged metallic cylinders or shells mounted on said shaft to rotate therewith, means cooperating with the threaded portion of said shaft and with one of the cylinders or shells whereby the latter may be made to travel lengthwise of said shaft and its telescopic relation with the adjacent cylinder or shell-controlled, the end walls of the cylinders being provided with controllable air-admitting openings, material-holding bands disposed about the opposite ends of the cylinders, yielding means for securing the ends of said bands together, and means located within the cylinders whereby the latterlnay be heated.`

2. A machine of thecharacter described, comprising a rotatable shaft vprovided with a screw vthreaded portion, a pair of telescopically arranged metallic shells or cylinders mounted on said shaft so as to rotate therewith, the end walls of said shells or cylinders being provided with controllable air-admitting openings, Aa `diaphragm or spider secured about the shaft and to the inner end of one of said shells or cylinders, electric heaters secured to the end wall of one of said cylinders and to said diaphragm or spider, a commutator secured about one end of said shaft and electrically connected with said heaters, means whereby the current to said heaters may be controlled, means disposed about the screw threaded portion of the shaft and in operative relation with one of said shells or cylinders whereby the latterV may be moved lengthwise of the shaft and its telescopic relation with the other shell or cylinder controlled, and adjustable means adapted `to be disposed about each of the shells or cylinders whereby the material to be operated on may be clamped in place. i

SJA machine of the character described, comprising a rotatable shaft provided with a screw threaded portion, a pair of metallic cylinders mounted on the shaft to rotatel therewith and arranged in telescopic relation, means disposedabout the threaded portion of the shaft for operatively connecting one of said cylinders to the shaft and to cause the cylinder to be moved lengthwise of the shaft, electricalV heaters arranged within said cylinders, means for controlling the current thereto, adjustable means disposed about opposite ends ofsaid cylinders for clamping the material in place, a transversely disposed member for holding the ends of the material, and clamping means for holding the transversely disposed member in place and to permit relative longitudinal movement.

4. In a machine of Lthe character described, the combination of a pair of cylinders arranged in telescopic relation, means whereby the telescopic relation between the cylinders may be controlled and the cylinders rotated, adjustable means disposed about opposite ends of the cylinders for clamping the material to be operated on in place, a member disposed transversely of the cylinders and said adjustable means for securing the intermediate portion of the material in place, With clamping,` means disposed at the ends of the transversely dis- 10 posed member and adapted to engage with the circumferential vvalls of the cylinders and with said transversely disposed member, and eccentric means for forcing said clamping means into gripping relation vWith the circumferential Walls of the cylinders.

JOHN WADE. -1 `WILLIAM WADE; lVitnesses: Y WILLIAM STREGER, WILLIAM F. STREGER, Jr. 

